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Edmonton Hells Angel and associates found guilty of kidnapping, extortion in Hope

Three men found guilty of aggravated assault, forcible confinement, kidnapping in Hope in 2016
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Neil Cantrill and two associates were found guilty of kidnapping, extortion and other charges relating to a 2016 incident in Hope. They appeared in BC Supreme Court in New Westminster July 17. (Tracy Holmes photo)

An Edmonton Hells Angel member and two associates have been found guilty in BC Supreme Court of kidnapping, extortion and other charges related to an incident in Hope in 2016.

Neil Patrick Cantrill, who goes by the name ‘Nitro’ in a Nomads Chapter of the Alberta Hells Angels, along with Stephan Cantrill and Robert Lowry were found guilty in relation to an incident in Hope that took place in August 2016. The three were found guilty New Westminster Supreme Court on July 17, on charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault, extortion, forcible confinement and attempting to choke to overcome resistance.

The three men are next scheduled in court on July 30 to fix a date for sentencing.

The trial faced some delays related to the three men firing the Edmonton-based lawyer representing them in 2018. Originally slated to start in BC Supreme Court in Chilliwack in April 2018, the trial went ahead in June of this year in New Westminster.

Read more: Hells Angel fires lawyer in BC Supreme Court in Chilliwack Monday

Cantrill’s history with the courts includes a $1,000 fine for possession of live rattlesnakes.

He was also charged in relation to an alleged incident in 1998, charges which were later stayed. According to a 2001 article in the Edmonton Sun, a man claimed three men, one wearing colours of the Hells Angels, stormed into his house and forced him to hand over property for a debt.

Cantrill has also faced accusations, wrote Vancouver Sun reporter Kim Bolan, of having run a large methamphetamine operation out of Alberta. In 2003, Bolan wrote, Cantrill faced further weapons and drug charges that were later dropped because of an invalid warrant.

– with files from Paul Henderson